De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

 A message of hope from Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury given on Remembrance Sunday

Some really good news from yesterday, Dr Gavin Ashenden was received into full communion with the Catholic Church by Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury Diocese. Gavin is someone I have posted about quite a few times in the past ( just do a search ). The way the world works now I have been able to be a friend on Social Media of his and to follow his efforts to speak out about the immense value of Christianity in building culture. He is a brave & convinced disciple of Jesus Christ and it is very exciting to me to see him come into full communion with the Catholic Church. I have said to Gavin myself that we need him. We need his calm, reasoned approach and his courage to stand up for what the Church teaches. I am sure that, were the Church more confident in what it stands for and teaches, it would be ever more attractive to committed disciples like Gavin. I know a good number of faithful Christians who are dissuaded from converting simply because the Catholic Chur...

In a pastoral letter marking the first Sunday of Advent, Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury dedicated 2019 as the diocesan Year of Holiness, calling attention to the Second Vatican Council's emphasis on the universal call to holiness. “It is this universal call to holiness which I wish all of us, clergy and people, to focus upon anew. It is striking that, amid all the crises of the 20th Century, the central message of the Second Vatican Council was that every one of us, in every state of life, is called to the fullness of the Christian life and the perfection of love: that is, called to become nothing less than a saint ,” Bishop Davies wrote (emphasis mine). “Advent is a time of renewed hope leading us to the light of Christmas,” he said. “It is a journey we make in the darkest days of our year. Such days evoke the dark shadows in the world around us, and those failures in the lives and witness of Christians which have at times cast dark shadows over the face of the Church, obscur...

There is a huge lack of engagement with the serious cultural issues society faces today from a Catholic perspective. As I blogged recently , engaging with these ideas and leading the way forward is the job of our bishops, however, apart from a tiny vocal minority, we hear only silence. This is once again true with respect to the recent Jacob Rees-Mogg interview . Both Bishop Egan Well done Jacob Rees-Mogg! Thank you so much for standing up for Catholics and clearly yet gently proclaiming the teaching of Christ. — Bishop Philip Egan (@BishopEgan) September 6, 2017 ...and Bishop Davies have spoken out supporting the Conservative MP's Catholic line on abortion and same sex marriage amid a storm of vitriol from all corners suggesting Catholics are not fit for public office. From everywhere else, Westminster and Southwark included, (so far) silence. Dan Hitchens found the most interesting dimension to JRM's public profession of faith – as with the rage against Tim Farro...

A friend found this amazing homily from Bishop Mark Davies from March and we wondered, is the man a seer? Given the CES debacle that has unfolded over the last few days, what is completely clear is that Bishop Mark is fully aware of the issues. In it, Bishop Mark warned that Catholic schools may increasingly become "the focus of ideological groups demanding the acceptance of their agenda" under such ostensibly noble banners as equality, respect and the prevention of bullying and unjust discrimination. Here is the full homily of Bishop Davies  with my added emphasis: Homily at the Diocesan Primary Head Teachers' Conference 2nd March 2017 A week ago, I was driving westwards on the M56 in the face of Storm Doris. Rocked by sudden squalls and with visibility obscured, I had to trust the road I was following and the vehicle in which I was driving. Today, I want to suggest the same is true for our Catholic schools, which I am privileged to visit around the Diocese...

This is Bishop Mark Davies homily from Midnight Mass taken from the diocesan website : On Christmas morning, church bells will ring out across this land announcing anew the birth of a Child in Bethlehem: the Saviour who was born for us, Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). This is news of great joy to be shared by all people; and the bright sound of those bells brings this joyful announcement to everyone, whatever their situation in life. Christianity is not a cold theory or moralism: it is a message of joy and hope for all humanity, in Saint Paul’s words: “ God’s grace has been revealed, and has made salvation possible for the whole human race”  (Titus 2:11). At the end of 2016, amid the many shadows and uncertainties in our world, Christmas once more announces the glory of God in whom is found indestructible goodness and truth. However, there has been a danger of a strange silence falling over our land which has recently led the Prime Minister to urge Christians never to be afra...

Since I have started paying attention to such things, it has become very obvious that the Catholic Church, like pretty much every organisation in the world, has good leaders and bad leaders. bishops who do what they are supposed to do and some other bishops who do not. I think many, many (the majority?) of faithful Catholics today would bemoan the dearth of solid teaching from Bishops of England and Wales, to the extent that, when one of these bishops does actually say something Catholic, there tends to be much publicity. Of course there is, we aren't used to hearing them say anything much, let alone something as scandalous and revolutionary as the teaching of the Church! It is my own opinion that this lack of connection with the important and challenging truth taught by the Church—let's say on Contraception in the context of the goods of Marriage and the importance of children and family—leads to a tacit condoning of sin which stands in direct contravention to fundamen...

The Rt. Rvd.  Mark Davies, 11th  Bishop of Shrewsbury. On Saturday afternoon, Pope Francis proceeded with the presentation of the official Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy,  Misericordiae Vultus  (The Face of Mercy) , set to begin December 8. The purpose of this special Jubilee year is to highlight Christian teaching on God’s mercy that the witness of believers might grow stronger and more effective…opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness. The wonderful Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury Diocese has struck while the iron is hot, with this brilliant Pastoral Letter , in which he does just that. I have reproduced the text below in red, along with my own thoughts on it in black. My dear brother and sisters, I write to you on this Divine Mercy Sunday with the happy news that Pope Francis formally announces today a “Holy Year of Mercy” to begin on 8 th  December 2015 under the patronage of Mary...

I was greatly heartened to read the pastoral letter from the Bishop of Shrewsbury, read out on the Feast of The Holy Family on December 28th. It presents a wonderful synthesis of Church teaching on family and asks that we look deeper at the gifts that the Church presents to us in this regard and reflect how we can engage more deeply with Church teaching. I have hi lighted some of the bits that really caught my eye: My dear brothers and sisters, I write to you today in the light of the Child born for us, the Saviour who was given to us within the love and unity of a human family. On this Feast of the Holy Family, as we celebrate the holiness of family life and begin a “Year for Vocations” in the Diocese, I want to reflect on the “Vocation and Mission of the Family.” This is the title Pope Francis has given to the Synod of Bishops to take place in the New Year. It will be a year for Catholics across the world to reaffirm our faith in God’s plan for the family, and to do so a...

I must share with you this wonderful pastoral letter from Shrewsbury Diocese which was read at all Masses there today. I have copied it from the Shrewsbury Diocesan website in order to further publicise this important message from the wonderful Bishop Mark Davies: My dear brothers and sisters, On this Remembrance Sunday we recall the great crises faced by generations before us in the conflicts of the past century. Last month, Pope Francis invited bishops from around the world to meet with him in Rome to address what we might call a crisis of our time: the crisis of the family. This is experienced in some parts of the world in poverty, war or persecution; but in western countries like our own, it is a crisis most often caused by ideologies opposed to the sanctity of human life and the institution of marriage and the family. The Catholic Church has long opposed these mentalities and the devastation they have wrought on individuals, societies and especially among the young an...

The Catholic Herald reports that Bishop Philip Egan VG BA, STL, PhD has led the way once more today, asking parishes in his diocese of Portsmouth to hold a Holy Hour of prayer on Thursday night before assisted suicide is debated in the Lords on Friday. In a message to those in his diocese he wrote: “Even if you are unable to join the community for this Holy Hour, please at least pay a visit to the Blessed Sacrament that day. In meeting Jesus, the Son of God, in the Holy Eucharist to receive His love and life, we are also contemplating the Perfect Human Being. “Jesus is the One who shows us in His humanity the Way to true happiness and human flourishing. He calls us to live not for self and for transient goals, but for God and for the love of others. “When you meet Him, please pray that Parliament will firmly reject this Bill. Pray too for the terminally ill, and for the generous and selfless doctors, nurses and medical staff who care for them. Pray for those who will die to...

One of the traits of the lack-lustre, post Vatican II, happy-clappy, change the Church movement, is a conviction that the Church is dying and in desperate decline. They suggest the answer to this decline is more "Spirit of Vatican II" type changes, in other words, just the sort of thing which has done the damage up to now. The talk is always of "managing the decline", indicative of a defeatist attitude which capitulates the faith in the face of changing societal mores which it sees as undefeatable. This is one example of this capitulation and the effect it is already having on the Church at large. In the face of this depressing trend, we find the orthodox, faithful, Catholics, who really understand what it is all about in terms of humility before almighty God, support for His Church, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail, and the realisation that with Him, all things are possible. In orthodox parishes, attendance is high, involvement is high, reve...

Courage and constancy will guarantee the future of the Church, says Bishop Davies   This Sunday, on the Feast of Christ the King, the wonderful Bishop of Shrewsbury will call on Catholics of the Diocese to profess their faith with “courage and constancy” amid a climate of increasing hostility towards Christianity in British life, according to the Diocese of Shrewsbury's website . The Rt Rev. Mark Davies will say that he has “no doubt” that the future of the Church in this land depends on the commitment Catholics made to their faith today, in spite of the hardships that they might experience along the way. How wonderful to hear this important message articulated so clearly. Bishop Mark is absolutely correct in my opinion, as I have said on every possible forum, we need to start being more explicit about the Gospel and the message of what exactly the Christian faith is and does. It is not about making your own mind up, the Gospel is about knowing the truth and that truth setting...